Christopher Buxton

Mission of Definitive Foods

We seek to bring our love of high quality and exacting standards in making gourmet precooked meat and sausages into private label products. We are committed to applying innovative private label product marketing from inception to market dominance. We are dedicated turning your passion of a private label gourmet food into high quality precooked meats and sausages to be distributed in homes and institutions across the nation and world.

--Love--Definitive Foods has a love for creating exquisite gourmet cooked meats and sausages

--Commitment--Definitive Foods is committed to making your private label meat products shine in the marketplace.

--Passion--Definitive Foods shares the passion of gourmet products and want to help you make them widely available.

--Innovation--Definitive Foods is dedicated bringing innovation to private label precooked meats.

--Vision--Definitive Foods can capture the passion of your vision and bring it to the marketplace.

Value – Innovation – Quality

Our driving principle is to bring products to market by applying standards of value, innovation and quality to all of our products. We work hard to keep costs low by constantly reviewing suppliers and using innovative manufacturing techniques to respond to changing marketing conditions. We strive to bring innovation by by focusing on all available opportunities through comprehensive research of marketing trends and evolving quality standards. We are diligent in our quest for quality by making sure our facilities surpass USDA standards through daily inspections and have HACCP plans for every product we produce.

--Value--Definitive Foods will use it's industry experience to ensure the highest quality products are used at lowest cost.

--Innovative--Definitive Foods works in close collaboration to create a comprehensive production and marketing strategy.

--Quality--Definitive Foods constantly strives to set industry standards quality control.

The evolution of your brand in the 21st century …

We have the passion to maximize the potential for your brand with a comprehensive collaboration of

our industry experience and your product concepts. We have the resources to unleash the potential in

your brand through world class design collaboration, the development and execution of marketing

strategies and management of product supply lines.

--Comprehensive--Definitive Foods conducts extensive product profiles to create world-class branding

dynamics for private labels.

--Strategic--Definitive Foods excels at establishing your brand as a leader in the industry

--Efficient--Definitive Foods handles all aspects of brand and product management using innovative management philosophies.

IT Staffing Agencies Not the Best Answer

Companies have a lot of options when it comes to meeting their IT staffing needs. One option is to use specialized staffing agencies that place preselected candidates into a variety of technical positions. Specialized IT staffing agencies have emerged to to fill this niche in the employment market. Though they claim to reduce the cost of hiring a full-time employee, they usually offer little actual value and have just as many problems as ones recruited through traditional means.

How They Operate

An IT staffing agency operates by presenting potential candidates to companies for a fee based on the annual salary of the position. To maintain a ready pool of technical professionals to place, these staffing agencies use recruiters to attract potential employees for positions that are currently open in the client company. Once a candidate has been placed, the agency collects its fee.

 How They Find Your Programmers

 In finding a potential candidate for full-time placement, a staffing agency uses many resources, including failed candidates from a previous placement or online and traditional advertisements. Often technical recruiters will look to companies that are using the same set of skills as the placement request by raiding technical staff in competing firms. In today's job climates, technical staffing agencies also find themselves sorting through large pools of candidates who are not currently employed, often an indicator of incompetence or an inability to grasp corporate culture.

Assembly Line Human Resources

Through advertisements, staffing agencies find potential candidates among the general job-seeking population. In this way the staffing agency is using the same recruitment method as a company except it appears they are adding an additional layer of interviews for a potential client. In many cases this is not the case—agencies maintain a group of recruits who have gone through a basic induction interview. In many cases the agent hasn't personally met the candidate being placed.

Not Knowing the Know-How

Staffing agency personnel also often lack technical experience, which interferes with their ability to assess a candidate's skills. Because they lack technical knowledge, recruiters are susceptible to a candidate overstating his or her qualifications. Often they use a standardized test to ascertain technical experience, reducing the knowledge of advanced programming languages to a multiple-choice quiz that favors guessers. Other recruiters may rely on a list of buzzwords that candidates might use during an interview.

More Sales Then Savvy

The typical technical recruiter is nothing more then a specialized salesperson. It's his or her job to make two sales—one to the potential candidate and one to the placement company. Often technical recruiters know little about the technology required for the positions and can make some unexpected mistakes

What You Get in the End

Despite having a higher cost, a candidate place through a staffing agency has the same chance of failure as one recruited directly by the company. In addition, a candidate placed through a staffing agency that was already employed has expressed a likelihood of jumping ship when another recruiter promises a higher salary. Overall a candidate from a staffing agency has the same chance of failing a probationary period through incompetence, anti-social behavior or personal irresponsibility.

The Best Path for Software Development

In many cases, companies can benefit more by outsourcing the project as opposed to outsourcing the hiring process. Instead of maintaining costly staff recruited by staffing agencies, using a software development agency is the best way to lower IT staffing costs. Focusing on the project—not the person—is the better way for a company to meet its software development needs.

Lessons for Walking

Walking long distances is an art form. There are various things one can do to complete the walk, and make it fulfilling as possible.
 
1--Don’t stare at your final destination. Nothing can be more depressing then to see your objective in the distance. Each step doesn’t make it appear any closer—it simply seems to remain in the intangible distant. Your footsteps then seem to be a futile gesture in conquering your ultimate goal.

You should allow your eyes to wander. In this way, you’ll find a good place to take a rest, as well as absorb those things around you, as opposed to the goal in the distance. After all, what’s around us now affects us more then a lofty goal in the distance. Looking at your immediate surroundings allows you to appreciate what you currently have.

2—Take breaks. Walking isn't very tiring, and it can be easy to forget to stop and rest. Resting is important because it allows us time to enjoy those things that are immediately at hand. Walking can be a dull, plodding chore. Including breaks into a walk allows for time to dwell on the simple, insignificant things that might be found on the way. Often, these things prove to be the better part of the journey.

3—Keep up a dialogue with yourself, or with someone who is significant to you. We all walk alone on these kinds of journeys, but if we constantly allow our minds to wander where they will, it proves to be fuel for the soul. Some people may choose some kind of deity to focus upon; others may have arguments with lost friends or deceased parents. This will serve to keep your spirits up.

4—Look behind you. This may sound kind of foolish at first, but it isn't. Things don’t look the same backwards. If, by chance, you have to return by the same route, then you will have a basis for remembering what you will see on the way back. But most important, however, is that looking back allows one to sum up their progress by admiring the distance already traveled.

A Young Girl in a Crowded Restaurant

I can dance her restless feet said
and she moved in circles as she
bounced in a contented way
not so much as to show others
but to find her own equilibrium.

I'm a monkey her bouncing black hair said
as she whirled back and forth
in her monkey dance
being kind to the elderly
by flaunting her youth with abandon
the way it should be
I'm a monkey her shrugging shoulders said
and her twirling
made her so.

You can love me her deep brown eyes said
there is nothing more to life
then to just take a few minutes
to dance.

History of Definitive Foods

Despite having access to state-of-the-art tools for food innovation and the ability to provide unique customizations for private label gourmet products it was the passion that inspired Sean Wells Sr. to respond by creating Definitive Foods. Realizing there was a to be a revolution in the marketplace, he dedicated Definitive Foods to to provide quality food and excellent market presentation.

Sean discovered his passion for the food industry shortly after graduating from Calumet High School when he went to work for SAF Foods, a division of C&F Packing Co. Starting in one of the most innovative independent food facilities in America, Sean discovered a natural aptitude for leadership and maximizing productivity. Inspired by the continued success of SAF Foods, Sean realized he wanted to be at the forefront of the food industry.

SAF Foods strengthened their reputation for being independently innovative by moving operations to better and larger facilities—first moving from Merrillville, Indiana to Elk Grove Village, Illinois, and then later constructing a state-of-the-art facility in Lake Villa, Illinois. Sean grew within SAF foods, first by earning the position of Production Manager, where he solidified his understanding of food products and formulations. Later he began to oversee two other departments, and helped manage SAF Food's national accounts. When the new facility in Lake Villa was finished, they asked Sean to oversee all cooking operations.

Sean moved his family to Lake Villa and threw himself into the success of the operation. Soon he realized he need to expand his knowledge further, so he returned to college to study aspects of product design and marketing. As Sean's knowledge grew, he accepted the responsibilities of National Brand Management and Marketing Director.

Managing Software Development Costs

In order to remain competitive in today's economy, companies of all sizes need to adopt the latest business strategies to keep costs down while ensuring high-quality software development. Cutting-edge companies are constantly re-evaluating their strategies for keeping costs down by examining alternatives to the traditional software development department. They have found that using outside software development agencies is often the key to keeping costs under budget.

Full-time Employees are Expensive!

Companies are finding that having traditional employees dedicated to software development is luxury they can't afford. Employees can be costly in many respects, including salary, benefits and training expenses. In addition, employee costs can be hard to measure in dollars—employee vacations can delay production release dates or internal strife between between employees can slow production and sap motivation.

Finding the Deeper Talent Pool

When companies outsource software development they can take advantage of a broader base of employable talent. Software agencies can dedicate the time necessary to find and retain the best and the brightest software engineers who have a track record of proven quality work. With the larger talent pool available agencies can easily provide the specialized services necessary for efficient and timely project development.

Knowing the Right Language

Because of their specialization software development agencies have a greater base of talent in which to solve problems. Unlike many traditional full-time employees, agencies rely on a team of engineers who are experienced in a wide range of programming languages. This combined experience allows for quick problem resolution using experience and creative methods. Often this knowledge base extends to older and obsolete languages and systems which allows for easier migration of existing systems, including archaic systems with poor or no documentation.

Getting a Bigger Picture

Companies that work with software agencies find that the whole process of implementing programs and upgrades is simplified by working with an outside agency. Project expectations and goals are clearly distilled through the process of generating contracts and work orders which streamlines the decision making process. Issues can be resolved quickly instead of being bogged down in social disruptions such as interdepartmental strife.

Keeping an Eye on the Bottom Line

Managing a software project by using an outside firm also makes excellent fiscal sense. Contracts specify costs, reducing the likelihood of costly overruns. Having more fixed costs also makes it easier for companies to dedicate themselves to the specialized management of their product distribution.

What Tomorrow's Full-time Employee Will Be

Companies that are adding traditional employees are finding they need staff who are versatile and experienced multi-taskers. Using an outside software contractor allows the company to take advantage of the development agency's staff of skilled specialists while allowing employees to concentrate on the more crucial nuances of the company's trade.

Getting the Best for Less

Successful companies are constantly reviewing their business processes looking for ways to cut costs. Creating software using in-house teams can be costly and time consuming. Utilizing outside software development is an excellent way in which a company can reduce labor and production costs and expedite their project completion schedules while remaining competitive in the worldwide marketplace.

The Man Who Knows Everything Talks About Cats

Eric emailed this question: “Can you crate train a cat?”

Cats are surprisingly trainable. Despite their overall demeanor they can be trained to do or not do certain behaviors using traditional behavior modification programs. I've seen housecats perform as trained circus animals—jumping though hoops, leaping from perch to perch and maiming their trainer without any of the normally associated cat disdain.

It's also important to remember that behavior can vary considerably. The current cat that I have—for observational purposes only—actually exhibits a significant amount of dog behavior in such things as coming when he's called and smelling people in unglamorous places. Other cats I've known have chosen to live in the corners, as if being giant mice or have taken to a liberal lifestyle and end up campaigning for the Green Party.

Regardless I opted to see if cats are crate trainable. I set up an extra dog crate I happened to have and put my cat into it. He was mildly dis-effective at first which was unsurprising. After about 18 minutes he settled into a steady caterwaul that varied in intensity and length over the following 24 hours.

Phase one of the experiment ended at the request of the local police department. In phase 2, I have attempted to have the cat go into the crate upon command. This was unsurprisingly unsuccessful. I then opted for phase 3, where I once again attempted to insert the cat into the crate. He was considerably less cooperative.

I opted to end phase 3 early due to certain operational difficulties. Therefore I would have to say that no, you can't crate train a cat. It should be noted however that cats appear to have the ability to modify human behavior.

Paula asks: “Are there hard numbers in regards to the number of cats one can have before being a cat lady?”

Recent studies have indicated that cats apparently modify behavior of the mammals around them by exposing them to a parasite that appears to modify the behavior of the host. Though it appears to have a fatal effect on mice by making them more bold, and more likely to be eaten. It's effects on humans differ in the sense that it makes humans more likely to tolerate cats, as well as allows the show 'Law and Order' to activate endorphins.

For those of us who wish to not admit that we're some kind of symbiontt host for greater felinekind we acknowledge that cats can be fun to have around and serve useful purposes such as showing us where to sweep by depositing shedded hair and eating the occasional cockroach.

There is, however, a point in which someone can be identified as a Cat Lady. Despite it's complex sounding nature one can calculate whether they are a Cat Lady or not by using a formula based on the square footage of their residence. The formula is rather simple: The acceptable number of cats in a household 2000 square feet or less is two. You can add one cat for every additional 1500 square feet, so if you lived in a 10,000 square foot house you can have five cats.

Three things should be noted: One, cat ownership is a gateway to being a Cat Lady. Having 2 cats in a 400 square foot efficiency apartment is a definite indicator of the Cat Lady syndrome yet still falls under the appropriate guidelines. Secondly, Cat Lady syndrome is not gender specific--the formula is valid for both sexes. Thirdly, it should be noted that the actual term Cat Lady is often preceded by a derogatory adjective. 

Peter asks: “Is there proper Fuhn Shuege for the placement of cat litter boxes?”

Fung shewi, the ancient Chinese art/philosophy about the order of items in one's personal space to achieve balance in one's life. Obviously, the proper Fung Shwei would be to remove the cat. Crate training may help.